"The
comedy is
always lackluster,
cumbersome and lacking a child's innocent
playfulness."

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

Just as dreadful as the original is this uninspired
kiddie
comedy
sequel. It's also helmed by filmmaker Shawn Levy ("The
Pink
Panther"/"Cheaper
by the Dozen"/"Big Fat Liar"). For a film that was
built around it
being
magical, it showed no signs of being magical--just
gimmicky. The comedy
is always lackluster, cumbersome and lacking a child's
innocent
playfulness.
If you are wondering why it was remade in the same
dreadful way, one
should
keep in mind that despite awful reviews for the
original it took in
$574
million B.O. in the international market. Also, the
Museum of Natural
History
reported attendance was up 20% after "Night at the
Museum," as the
kiddies
seemed to be stimulated by the film to ask their
parents to take them
there
for a visit (even though the misinformed tour guide
film hardly serves
up an accurate history lesson, it at least serves a
good purpose in
creating
interest for these historical figures it
presents).

In the first film, the likable divorced dad, Larry
Daley
(Ben Stiller),
was a nightwatchman at New York's Museum of Natural
History who had to
deal with exhibits that come to life. He's now a
successful CEO
entrepreneur
of a company that invents gadgets, such as a
glow-in-the-dark
flashlight.
Upon Larry's visit to the museum, the director Dr.
McPhee (Ricky
Gervais)
explains that the longtime exhibits will be shipped to
D.C.'s
Smithsonian
Federal Archives, as the NYC museum will now exhibit
state-of-the-art
holographic
displays. Back home, Larry receives an SOS call from
miniature cowboy
Jed
(Owen Wilson), one of the exhibits being shipped to
the underground
archive
at the Smithsonian. Thereby the concerned Larry leaves
his son (Jake
Cherry)
home alone and goes to the Smithsonian to help his
waxwork friends.
Larry,
after sneaking into the underground storage area,
finds Jed, the Roman
soldier Octavius (Steve Coogan) and Teddy Roosevelt
(Robin Williams)
are
in danger. The exhibits need help as a fictional
Egyptian pharaoh named
Kahmunrah (Hank Azaria), a newcomer to the series, is
set on stealing
the
magical tablet that brings them to life so he can
control the world and
he has recruited Ivan the Terrible (Christopher
Guest), Napoleon (Alain
Chabat ) and Al Capone (Jon Bernthal) to help get the
tablet from
Larry.
Larry is helped by the perky newcomer pioneer aviatrix
Amelia Earhart
(Amy
Adams), who plays her part with zest.

Comedy supposedly comes from Azaria’s evil lisping
Pharaoh
and the
other newcomer Bill Hader, as the campy General Custer
who aims to help
Stiller. Also coming part of the action are some
bobble-headed
Einsteins
and a giant marble Abraham Lincoln coming down from
The Lincoln
Memorial
to kick butt and lecture about acting in unity.

The innocuous family entertainment film is for kids
of
about seven,
who might find some laughs over the silly scenes with
dinosaurs,
kangaroos,
monkeys slapping Stiller around and a giant squid.
There are also a
couple
of paintings and sculptures that magically come to
life, a balloon dog
who jumps around the museum to amuse the kiddies and
the entry of Larry
and Amelia into Eisenstaedt's Kiss at Times Square
photo that came as
the
end of WW II was announced. I really couldn't find
many laughs for the
adults accompanying the youngsters, but their reward
for sitting
through
this overlong and awkward kiddie pic might be that it
just gives them a
chance to catch a few winks in their baby sitting
duties as their
kiddies
are preoccupied with the movie.